According to the Kansas Supreme Court, the state's budget cuts for K-12 education are unconstitutional as it affects students who are in poorer districts. Businessweek said that the recent decision of the state Supreme Court will set a precedent to later decisions regarding budget cuts on education programs across the US. It has been noted that more than a dozen US states are facing lawsuits regarding such budget cuts, which has been considered an acceptable practice that mirrors the economic state of the country.
Businessweek said this was not the first time it had faced similar lawsuits. In 2005, a court ruling had ordered the state of Kansas to increase its budget allocation for education. The legislature followed by allocating $4,492 per student by 2010. However, it was observed that the legislators failed to follow through with the budget increase after the economy in the US had tanked in 2008. Businessweek said that Kansas only spent $4,012 per student in 2010, and because of the new tax cuts, allocation for education dove to just $3,780 per pupil by year 2012.
The decision of the Kansas state Supreme Court reportedly focused on two things. One of them, said Businessweek was how the budget cuts creased the gap between the wealthy and the poor in terms of providing education. The high court said that as the well-off districts have more local tax revenue to cover for the discrepancies in the education budget, the poorer districts has to make do with what is given to them.
On the other hand, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback deemed the decision unfavorable, and insist that legislators are the ones who had control over the budget and not the courts. The other point that the Supreme Court is trying to convey is that there are factors that the state should consider when deeming the budget "adequate" to provide quality education to the students. Businessweek said that the Supreme Court ruling was helpful in a sense that it provided benchmarks in making allocations for education budgets.
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